The Bentonville school district has experienced recent success in implementing new curriculum, instructional strategies and utilizing new instructional coaches in math and literacy. Teachers in the district have exemplified excellent instruction that has resulted in strong test performance and when compared with other districts in the state, Bentonville ranked first in 29 out of 32 Subject/Grade Level Combinations for the 2018-2019 school year on ACT Aspire Testing (D. Jones, Superintendent Bentonville Schools, email communication, July 17, 2019). Strong performance on tests are certainly one measure of instructional skills in the classroom and knowledge in making curriculum, but there is a missing element critical for continued success for teachers and students. Effective teachers create a joy of learning in the classroom and if this can be replicated in classrooms across the district, we can make student learning more successful and long term.
A case study analysis (Stronge, Ward, Grant 2011) identified variables that are practices of effective teachers. The analysis indicates that teacher effectiveness requires mastery of classroom management, encouragement of responsibility, classroom organization and positive relationships. The most significant variable in illustrating the difference in effective and ineffective teachers can be summed into a theme of joyful learning. Effective teachers strive to create a joyful classroom that is engaging and promotes and supports intellectual curiosity.
Creating a joyful classroom requires purposeful strategies in these three areas which manifest as the personal qualities of vulnerability, cooperation and ownership.
Strategy 1 – Share Vulnerability
Modeling vulnerability is about sending a really clear signal in the classroom that indicates that it is OK to make mistakes, to trust each other and get to work. A teacher showing vulnerability allows the students build responsibility over their own their learning experience. Joy in learning requires some ownership on the part of the learner and sharing vulnerability helps to build a culture that encourages responsibility.
Strategy 2 – Build Cooperation
The core of effective teacher and student relationships is a healthy balance between dominance and cooperation (Marzano 2003). Effective teachers utilize cooperative actions to build positive relationships like allowing students to set some of their own learning goals, have input regarding rules and procedures in the classroom. Cooperation in the classroom builds a joyful learning environment where the teacher is able to utilize helpful skills to meet the needs of students in the classroom.
Strategy 3 – Create ownership (Classroom management and organization)
The analysis found that teachers who were more effective, in terms of student achievement, were more organized, used routines and procedures with greater efficiency, and held higher expectations of their students’ behavior (Darling-Hammond 2003, p.348). As part of a joyful classroom, effective teachers create a culture in which both the teacher and the students are responsible for maintaining the classroom. Additionally, because the procedures are in place and the students are excited to learn and this lends itself to the teacher being able to utilize more instructional strategies and differentiation in the curriculum.
Conclusion
With six to ten years of teaching experience, Teachers appear to decline in cooperative behavior, a change that negatively affects student attitudes. (Marzano 2003). Therefore years of experience are not a prerequisite to effectiveness. If all teachers in the school are not only building curriculum that results in great test scores, but builds a joy for learning, the school can have tremendous impact on student achievement, student success and student joy. Considering the high turnover of teachers in schools, it is in everyone’s interest to help teachers and students find joy in their work.
References:
- Coyle, Daniel (2018) The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Random House New York.
- Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). Keeping Good Teachers: Why It Matters, What Leaders Can Do. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 6-12
- Marzano, R., (2003) What works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, Alexandria, VA, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
- Stronge J., Ward T. & Grant L. (2011). What Makes Good Teachers Good. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(4), 339-355.
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